Possible First Look at Masterpiece Raiden Component

FINALLY!

Can't tell how big he is, though.

With all of the name reveals we've been getting for Legacy/2022. I thought to myself "I might not be getting any Transformers next year"...then I am reminded of this, all things happen for a purpose. Even if nothing in the mainline interests me, at least I can rest assured I'll hopefully be able to get Raiden. Looking forward to seeing more.

Highly detailed. That's good.

But the highly possible hole in my pocket. That's no good.

Considering the price of UW Devastator a few years ago, MP Raiden can easily be double the price of that.

CW Dev was $150 USD in 2015, UW Dev was roughly the same price, although because of imports and some of the added details it came with, most folks were paying around $200 when it came out in the end of 2015. It hasn't been confirmed if the components will be sold separately, or as a set? But f we could get the whole thing for around $400, I'd be ok. Sadly, that would also not be the most expensive combiner I have purchased in recent years. $60-$70 each though, a few months apart would defintely be easier on the budget for sure.

God help us if these guys are in scale with the rest of the MP Line....

Stormshot_Prime wrote:God help us if these guys are in scale with the rest of the MP Line....

I don't think these will be. Hudt comparing to the crack in the floor and assuming that is roughly standard, Shouki's train mode looks to he roughly HO Model Train Scale (1:87) ehich will put him as roughly 12" long. But I am also unsure of how they got such a wide bot out of such a narrow alt mode.

optimeow wrote:Highly detailed. That's good.

But the highly possible hole in my pocket. That's no good.

Considering the price of UW Devastator a few years ago, MP Raiden can easily be double the price of that.

Will be more than double, closer to triple. This would be a $500-$600 combiner.

Flashwave wrote:But I am also unsure of how they got such a wide bot out of such a narrow alt mode.

Think Mudflap from TF: Cybertron...very long vehicle mode, but sturdy, wide robot mode. I think the shoulders run parallel to the length of the train mode and his legs do the splits.

Stormshot_Prime wrote:God help us if these guys are in scale with the rest of the MP Line....

The bot mode will be (which isn't any bigger than the Headmasters in the cartoon), it's Masterpiece after all. But just like the Seekers the alt mode will not be.

His transformation is very simple and to the point. Basically the arms go over his head, backpack goes above arms to make the front, legs push together, feet form the back. It's his ability to combine that makes him look so complicated and because of that the price will probably be closer to Arcee than Skids.

Emerje

The thing about his size is that that one magazine interview described him specifically as being "Unite Warriors size", which at first glance sounds like he'd be the height of a typical CW/UW/POTP/Selects combiner, which in turn would make Raiden CHUG scaled instead of proper MP scale.

The possibility does still remain that "Unite Warriors size" meant "Unite Warriors Devastator size", to make him proper MP scaled, but if that's the case, that begs the question of why the interview didn't just say that instead of the broader, less-specific "Unite Warriors size" since Devastator was the only UW toy of that height.

Based on the fact that Shouki (and the other Trainbots) are around Rodimus Convoy's height in The Headmasters [source],his figure should be anywhere between shoulder height to being nearly as tall as MP-9 Rodimus Convoy.

So if anybody has both that figure (MP-10 Convoy V2 and MP-44 Convoy V3 should work too) and either "Titan Class" version of Devastator, I suggest that you scale those figures next to each other. This should give you (and probably us as well) a good idea on how tall his figure alone will be. Along with a better idea on how big Raiden will be when he is combined.

Either way, I am interested in the rumored "MP" Cliff figure. And since the rumors tied to the Legacy line are starting to bore me, I am going to hope this is not going to be a long-winded, expensive set.

Super excited to finally see some news on this! I am really stoked for the idea of getting an MP Raiden!!!

Sabrblade wrote:The thing about his size is that that one magazine interview described him specifically as being "Unite Warriors size", which at first glance sounds like he'd be the height of a typical CW/UW/POTP/Selects combiner, which in turn would make Raiden CHUG scaled instead of proper MP scale.

The possibility does still remain that "Unite Warriors size" meant "Unite Warriors Devastator size", to make him proper MP scaled, but if that's the case, that begs the question of why the interview didn't just say that instead of the broader, less-specific "Unite Warriors size" since Devastator was the only UW toy of that height.

I just can't imagine them making MP figures not in scale with MPs. What's the point? Make it a Selects or a one off, no need to shoehorn them into the wrong line, they'll sell regardless.

Emerje

One thing is sure. That's one MP I'll NEVER get unless I win a million dollars. Because if I get that ultra expensive (price justified) MP, I'll want to hunt down the complete G1 original and we all know how much this goes for.

Looks amazing, and like its going to be intolerably expensive

Emerje wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:The thing about his size is that that one magazine interview described him specifically as being "Unite Warriors size", which at first glance sounds like he'd be the height of a typical CW/UW/POTP/Selects combiner, which in turn would make Raiden CHUG scaled instead of proper MP scale.

The possibility does still remain that "Unite Warriors size" meant "Unite Warriors Devastator size", to make him proper MP scaled, but if that's the case, that begs the question of why the interview didn't just say that instead of the broader, less-specific "Unite Warriors size" since Devastator was the only UW toy of that height.

I just can't imagine them making MP figures not in scale with MPs. What's the point? Make it a Selects or a one off, no need to shoehorn them into the wrong line, they'll sell regardless.

Emerje

It's possible that they're giving it the name because the amount of detail/functionality/complexity is masterpiece level, kind of like how the rotf starscream was labelled a masterpiece, despite being a normal leader class figure

Emerje wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:The thing about his size is that that one magazine interview described him specifically as being "Unite Warriors size", which at first glance sounds like he'd be the height of a typical CW/UW/POTP/Selects combiner, which in turn would make Raiden CHUG scaled instead of proper MP scale.

The possibility does still remain that "Unite Warriors size" meant "Unite Warriors Devastator size", to make him proper MP scaled, but if that's the case, that begs the question of why the interview didn't just say that instead of the broader, less-specific "Unite Warriors size" since Devastator was the only UW toy of that height.

I just can't imagine them making MP figures not in scale with MPs. What's the point? Make it a Selects or a one off, no need to shoehorn them into the wrong line, they'll sell regardless.

Emerje

To be fair, that's exactly what they did with MP Star Saber. He's completely out of scale with any and all other MPs.

His "Battle Up!" mode is supposed to be combiner-sized, while his standard robot mode is supposed to be of equal height to Perceptor (who is himself of equal height to the tall Autobot likes of Ironhide/Ratchet, Inferno/Grapple, and Hot Rod).

Yet, the standard robot mode of his MP is as small a typical Autobot Car (Prowl/Streak/Smokescreen, Wheeljack, Sideswipe, Hound, and Sunstreaker), while the "Battle Up!" mode is the same height as MP Ultra Magnus, MP-1 Convoy, and... the CW/UW/Potpie/Selects Combiners. The latter notion means that MP Star Saber is more correctly scaled for CHUG rather than Masterpiece.

Now, at the time that they were making him, I was certain they wouldn't be able to make Star Saber as big as he'd need to be, since this was before Titan class Devastator was even known about. But, at the very least, my hope was that Takara would at least be able to make him as big as Armada Unicron, since that toy was at least still much taller that foot-tall MPs like Magnus and MP-1.

But, with the onset of Titan class Devastator setting a new standard for Combiner height at MP scale, I do kinda still wish that MP Star Saber could have been bigger. At the very least, Armada Unicron-sized, if not taller.

-Kanrabat- wrote:One thing is sure. That's one MP I'll NEVER get unless I win a million dollars. Because if I get that ultra expensive (price justified) MP, I'll want to hunt down the complete G1 original and we all know how much this goes for.

My feeling is that I'll get "MP" Cliff and be done for the time being.

Not because my past experiences in the community (as a whole) always ended up being toxic, but because they always dump one means of doing this line for another. With the cap-off for me the moment every figure suddenly had to be their animated counterpart. Which has me actually look at how the characters scale in their anime series, while I wish I could follow that up by seeing how select MP scale with each other.

Or how MP figures that match a characters height scale against select Unite Warriors figures.

As for the original... Are we talking about the first (1987) individual figures, the giftset, or the second (1990) reissued figures? Either way, these complete (and MISB) will cost as much as a single 1990 reissue (MIB). With patience allowing you to get them for less via Mandarake.

I know Takara is limited by the cartoon character's design, and also that this is an engineering sample and not a final product... but this doesn't look like a Masterpiece figure. All the gaps, exposed hollow parts and ugly hinges make this look like a mainline quality toy.

whacko wrote:I know Takara is limited by the cartoon character's design, and also that this is an engineering sample and not a final product... but this doesn't look like a Masterpiece figure. All the gaps, exposed hollow parts and ugly hinges make this look like a mainline quality toy.

I was originally wondering if it was a 3P prototype, myself. The way the photo was shot had me wonder how the leaker got it. But also having been a fan of prototypes in the past, I am presuming that it is the actual item. And that the final product will look a whole lot better.

(Here is a LINK (click here) to his Collector Interview. It is worth checking out.)

whacko wrote:I know Takara is limited by the cartoon character's design, and also that this is an engineering sample and not a final product... but this doesn't look like a Masterpiece figure. All the gaps, exposed hollow parts and ugly hinges make this look like a mainline quality toy.

You're going to have to point out the exposed gaps and hollow spots because I don't see any. And the hinges are a necessity due to him being a combiner. Once the clear plastic is painted over a lot of it wont be visible.

Emerje

Emerje wrote:You're going to have to point out the exposed gaps and hollow spots because I don't see any. And the hinges are a necessity due to him being a combiner. Once the clear plastic is painted over a lot of it wont be visible.

Emerje

From what I have seen, the hollow points are in the legs area with any gaps seen being in the back. Something that also caught me off guard, at first, but later looked up prior to me editing my response to them. Which happens to be why they use clear plastic, and that they do not always stick with one prototype model.

But I do agree with you on the fact that once we see a more solid (color, digibash, or something else) version of this figure, a lot of those issues should not be noticeable. And if they will go with animation accuracy for height, or use "Unite Warrior" Devastator's combined height to make the set more affordable.

This doesn't even remotely look MP style at all. Why is it being called MP when it's clearly siege trilogy style?

mcfmullen wrote:This doesn't even remotely look MP style at all. Why is it being called MP when it's clearly siege trilogy style?

It's a prototype model, that's why. The final model should look more MP than their brand-merger stuff.

Stupid question, was Raiden featured in Victory?

chuckdawg1999 wrote:Stupid question, was Raiden featured in Victory?

He or one of his individual components appeared regularly on the show if I remember right.

Emerje

Emerje wrote:

chuckdawg1999 wrote:Stupid question, was Raiden featured in Victory?

He or one of his individual components appeared regularly on the show if I remember right.

Emerje

Outside of The Headmasters, the Trainbots appeared in the opening credits of Masterforce (not in the cartoon itself except for archive footage in a clip show), and briefly in the manga as well. Nothing in Victory whatsoever. The toys were re-released in Zone.

Jelze Bunnycat wrote:

Emerje wrote:

chuckdawg1999 wrote:Stupid question, was Raiden featured in Victory?

He or one of his individual components appeared regularly on the show if I remember right.

Emerje

Outside of The Headmasters, the Trainbots appeared in the opening credits of Masterforce (not in the cartoon itself except for archive footage in a clip show), and briefly in the manga as well. Nothing in Victory whatsoever. The toys were re-released in Zone.

OK, there went that theory.

chuckdawg1999 wrote:

Jelze Bunnycat wrote:

Emerje wrote:

chuckdawg1999 wrote:Stupid question, was Raiden featured in Victory?

He or one of his individual components appeared regularly on the show if I remember right.

Emerje

Outside of The Headmasters, the Trainbots appeared in the opening credits of Masterforce (not in the cartoon itself except for archive footage in a clip show), and briefly in the manga as well. Nothing in Victory whatsoever. The toys were re-released in Zone.

OK, there went that theory.

If it was related to HasLab Star Saber, this set has been in production from TakaraTomy since October 2019, when Hasbro had only just finished crowdfunding Unicron a month earlier.

Sabrblade wrote:

chuckdawg1999 wrote:

Jelze Bunnycat wrote:

Emerje wrote:

chuckdawg1999 wrote:Stupid question, was Raiden featured in Victory?

He or one of his individual components appeared regularly on the show if I remember right.

Emerje

Outside of The Headmasters, the Trainbots appeared in the opening credits of Masterforce (not in the cartoon itself except for archive footage in a clip show), and briefly in the manga as well. Nothing in Victory whatsoever. The toys were re-released in Zone.

OK, there went that theory.

If it was related to HasLab Star Saber, this set has been in production from TakaraTomy since October 2019, when Hasbro had only just finished crowdfunding Unicron a month earlier.

Doesn't mean anything. I just could've seen this as the next Haslab. Guess Star Saber it is, hopefully, it's really Victory Saber.

I'm leaning towards Galaxy Shuttle since everybody is already assuming it has to be Star Saber.

I mean in all cases he did appear in Victory. Plus Hasbro could easily use the 1987 G.I. Joe Defiant Shuttle Complex as a reference piece when drawing up ideas. Along with them using TakaraTomy's Robot Masters line for any references if they do decide to include a Core class Star Saber, etc.

And yes, I am that level of bored when it comes to waiting for anything official for both projects.

chuckdawg1999 wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

chuckdawg1999 wrote:

Jelze Bunnycat wrote:

Emerje wrote:

chuckdawg1999 wrote:Stupid question, was Raiden featured in Victory?

He or one of his individual components appeared regularly on the show if I remember right.

Emerje

Outside of The Headmasters, the Trainbots appeared in the opening credits of Masterforce (not in the cartoon itself except for archive footage in a clip show), and briefly in the manga as well. Nothing in Victory whatsoever. The toys were re-released in Zone.

OK, there went that theory.

If it was related to HasLab Star Saber, this set has been in production from TakaraTomy since October 2019, when Hasbro had only just finished crowdfunding Unicron a month earlier.

Doesn't mean anything. I just could've seen this as the next Haslab. Guess Star Saber it is, hopefully, it's really Victory Saber.

I'm not sure it would have gotten enough support. The train bots are less known to casual fans. Hell I didin't know about them until about 15 years into this hobby. It would be a die-hard piece, I think. Just not sure enough people would shell out for it.

Whatever the next Haslab turns out to be, we know it will be based on TF:Victory, and will be revealed this Friday August 27. If it is one character, that is fine, but perhaps it would be a series of characters? I could see a CC Star Saber, a CC Victory Leo, a CC Deszarus, and perhaps Dinoking for a combined total of around $400. Just as an example

o.supreme wrote:Whatever the next Haslab turns out to be, we know it will be based on TF:Victory, and will be revealed this Friday August 27. If it is one character, that is fine, but perhaps it would be a series of characters? I could see a CC Star Saber, a CC Victory Leo, a CC Deszarus, and perhaps Dinoking for a combined total of around $400. Just as an example

Thanks for the heads up. And to be honest, it sounds more interesting that what is scheduled for 'Day 1' at Renegade Con. (I am interested in that con's day 2 segments, but plan to only watch two of them.)

As for any 'Core Class' add-ons, they offered free figures when it came to their Star Wars: The Vintage Collection stuff. In this case, I cannot rule out any of the characters you have mentioned. Especially if the big reveal turns out to be Galaxy Shuttle! In the end, Star Saber would have to be a free figure if they do that type of project. It would help them to have Victory Leo be a early unlock, a special carded variant of of Deszarus be a later (or end game) unlock. With Dino Force being a potential if they think there are enough people to unlock something like them.

Regardless, I'm just hoping there are members here that will help make it a success.

Jelze Bunnycat wrote:

Emerje wrote:

chuckdawg1999 wrote:Stupid question, was Raiden featured in Victory?

He or one of his individual components appeared regularly on the show if I remember right.

Emerje

Outside of The Headmasters, the Trainbots appeared in the opening credits of Masterforce (not in the cartoon itself except for archive footage in a clip show), and briefly in the manga as well. Nothing in Victory whatsoever. The toys were re-released in Zone.

Derp, my brain was mixing up a few different things in that moment. I've been looking at a bunch of Headmasters episode stuff on TFWiki trying to get an idea of just how tall the trains are (seem to be about the same size as the Headmasters). But at the same time I had been looking at a bunch of Star Saber stuff because of the HasLab talk including a scale chart that had him in pretty close proximity to Raiden and my brain just sort of took off from there...

Emerje

Emerje wrote:I've been looking at a bunch of Headmasters episode stuff on TFWiki trying to get an idea of just how tall the trains are (seem to be about the same size as the Headmasters). But at the same time I had been looking at a bunch of Star Saber stuff because of the HasLab talk including a scale chart that had him in pretty close proximity to Raiden and my brain just sort of took off from there...

Emerje

According to The Headmasters, Shouki (and I believe the rest of the Trainbots are the same height) is as tall, or being close to being, as Rodimus Prime. And according to their MP-9 and MP-10 figures, as well as The Headmasters, both Primes are supposed to be the same height.

And according to Victory, Wheeljack's height has him reach up to Star Saber's crotch. But only when Star Saber is in full form. The episode that shows this also says that both Perceptor and Minerva are also as tall as Wheeljack in that series.

If you also need a visual reference, please let me know. I normally include one but I am also trying to catch up on a few non-Transformers related projects.

New Color images of Shouki. Also this is being released under a new Title MPG= Masterpiece Gattai! I love it.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1212896 ... 154756460/

https://twitter.com/TF_pr/status/144385 ... 12804?s=19

This is fun. Today, someone uploaded an image of Masterpiece Shouki on the Hobbymizer Facebook page. The image seems to come from the Takara order forms which are our first look at products sometime. We will probably get an official reveal from Takara soon, especially since they set up a new MPG section on their site. MPG stands for Masterpiece Gattai which means "combine" and so now we know that the inidividual Raiden pieces will be released in a subline of Takara's Masterpiece line.

The coloured image shows us the finished product of Shouki, the first train bot released in this subline. We see his robot mode, his train car mode and his combined mode.

Huh. Honestly this just looks like a chug figure. Makes you wonder why they didn’t just make simplified versions of these guys leader size in the WFC trilogy.

I'm not opposed to a Masterpiece Trainbot series, but it seems like an odd starting point for a combiner subline when there were so many other options available.

Wow, it is really kind of kibble-tastic isn't it. I know the cartoon model has some back and arm panels, but this kind of looks like a brick that transforms into another brick. It looks like articulation will be significantly restricted by the panels and backpack, and it doesn't seem to match the aesthetic of other Masterpiece toys we've gotten recently.

Curious what the price and combined mode will be like though. I have no real connection to the Trainbots so I don't think I'll pick this up but I'd like to see how Takara builds and prices a combiner in hopes that they decide to tackle other more popular combiner teams in the future.

Hot diggity! That solves the MPG mystery. Takara had Tweeted about it yesterday but then deleted the Tweet almost immediately.

Looks interesting,but I will wait for more pictures before saying more.
I imagine the combined mode will be as tall as Titan Class Devastator?

Day 640 of waiting for Transformers Armada Masterpiece news.

WeatherManNX01 wrote:I'm not opposed to a Masterpiece Trainbot series, but it seems like an odd starting point for a combiner subline when there were so many other options available.

Transforming Trains do go down a treat in Japan to be fair.

WeatherManNX01 wrote:I'm not opposed to a Masterpiece Trainbot series, but it seems like an odd starting point for a combiner subline when there were so many other options available.

I know some fans have speculated this is a subline, but I don't think so. I think MPG will just be tied to Raiden specifically. I mean news about this first was talked 2 years ago. Also, there's no telling when these toys will actually come out. If it takes 3-4 years to develop just one, I can't see them doing it for multiple combiners.

This news is very disappointing. I would really like a Raiden update, but nowhere near enough to spend the $600-$1500 the Masterpiece label will surely demand. I wish the Legacy: Evolution line was making these guys instead of another Menasor.

If that were the case, I'd be disappointed as well. But from all indications, although this is labeled as a MP, it appears to be more in CHUG scale. The comparison most people make is with CW/UW Devastator. It was scaled for MP, but with a Generations/UW Budget, which is fine. Although MPG Raiden will no doubt be more expensive. I would imagine somewhere between $70-100 per bot, making it $420-600 at the MOST.

I understand that STILL is a lot, but nowhere near the $1000-$1500 range. If they are released individually, that will make it a bit easier on the budget. Some fans gladly pay $400-$600 for 3P Combiners.

Latebrus-K wrote:This news is very disappointing. I would really like a Raiden update, but nowhere near enough to spend the $600-$1500 the Masterpiece label will surely demand. I wish the Legacy: Evolution line was making these guys instead of another Menasor.

Plus as well as what O. Supreme said, it took HasLab to get western fans a shot at Star Saber, a much more recognisable face from the JG1 part of the franchise, there's no way they'd do Raiden as mainline retail.

o.supreme wrote:

WeatherManNX01 wrote:I'm not opposed to a Masterpiece Trainbot series, but it seems like an odd starting point for a combiner subline when there were so many other options available.

I know some fans have speculated this is a subline, but I don't think so. I think MPG will just be tied to Raiden specifically. I mean news about this first was talked 2 years ago. Also, there's no telling when these toys will actually come out. If it takes 3-4 years to develop just one, I can't see them doing it for multiple combiners.

I agree with your line of thinking. I'd go 1 step further and guess that the main reason for the new designation is to separate it somewhat from the regular MP line since I doubt they will be able to design a combiner to normal MP standards for the combined form, 6 individual trains and 6 individual bots. Some compromises will be needed somewhere and I'm guessing they will stand out somewhat from the regular MP line due to this.

TF-fan kev777 wrote:I agree with your line of thinking. I'd go 1 step further and guess that the main reason for the new designation is to separate it somewhat from the regular MP line since I doubt they will be able to design a combiner to normal MP standards for the combined form, 6 individual trains and 6 individual bots. Some compromises will be needed somewhere and I'm guessing they will stand out somewhat from the regular MP line due to this.

Agreed 100%

I personnaly like the idea of purchassing them separatly. Being on a budget of late, it will be easier to get all of them one at a time rather then spit 700$ on a set. I'm really excited about this. Hopefully we will soon have a date for the first one to be released